(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -A woman who has devoted the final years of her life to making blankets for the families the Wishing Star Foundation helps, now has a final wish of her own.
Patricia Basler's daughter Gina reached out to Wishing Star's Executive Director Dan Curley. The Wishing Star so graciously helps makes the dreams and wishes of people from ages three to 21 come true, but Patricia's age far exceeds their guidelines. That's when all involved said, "Help Me Hayley."
"It was my new life doing this," Patricia said. "When they gave me a disability, I couldn't work anymore. I started crocheting afghan's for the Wishing Star Foundation."
She thought she'd just do a couple, but just couldn't stop helping
"I have done 800, yes," she said.
She wanted to get to 1,000, but her body is saying no.
"Somedays I couldn't work on it because I was too tired," she said.
Tired from the cancer. It started in her colon, but it's now spread to other organs.
"There isn't anything more they can do," she said.
Hospice, and her loving daughter Gina, are making her final days as comfortable as possible. Doctors told her over the summer they expected she had maybe six more months.
"I'm not ready to go yet," she said.
Because she has a bucket list, with one thing yet to be checked off.
"This is my last request to go on a helicopter ride," she said.
That's right, the woman who so tirelessly worked to better the lives of the children the Wishing Star Foundation works with, has a wish of her own.
"I couldn't ask anything better," she said.
All Patricia wants is to see our sweet city from a helicopter. Our Hayley Guenthner called Joe with Eagle Helicopters. She told him about Patricia, without skipping a beat, he simply said, "I'll make that happen."
"There's nothing in the whole world, nothing, that could mean as much as this does," she said.
The ride is scheduled for next week.